tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15072885352644876682018-10-12T04:13:37.007-04:00Connolly DesignDesign. Build. Share.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-61046009108419683822017-06-12T14:49:00.000-04:002017-06-12T14:49:25.619-04:00It’s quiet. Too quiet…Pretty clearly I’ve not been writing regularly here. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been blogging at all. I’ve been writing over at the <a href="https://blog.zeitspace.com/">Zeitspace blog</a> instead. I had made a half-hearted effort to cross-post here as well, but clearly haven’t kept it up. Anyway, for now posting here is going to maintain the infrequent activity, but at least there’s this post acknowledging that!<br /><br />Please join me over at the <a href="https://blog.zeitspace.com/">Zeitspace blog</a>.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-42972409347666602562016-11-07T07:30:00.000-05:002016-11-07T07:31:41.653-05:00Conversations about ZeitspaceHaving <a href="https://blog.zeitspace.com/greetings-from-zeitspace-886d9043b738">launched Zeitspace last week</a>, I’m now very much out in the world having conversations with people — friends old and new, past <a href="http://boltmade.com/">Boltmade</a> clients, past colleagues, and more. It’s great to see and hear how much interest there is in the new company and how much our story resonates with people.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The last few weeks, before and after launch, have been a reminder of just how much detail work there is to be done at the beginning of a new venture. Happily, it’s detail work with a highly motivating purpose, and there haven’t been any major issues. On the contrary, things have gone smoothly so far, and progress has been swift. The response since our Hallowe’en launch has been gratifying, and has provided some emphatic validation that the idea remains a sound one.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of which makes the conversations that much more fun. Let me know if you’d like to get together and chat.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This post also appears on the <a href="https://blog.zeitspace.com/">Zeitspace blog</a>. Go check it out and follow the company’s adventures!</i></div>Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-57157597083558409582016-10-31T07:00:00.000-04:002016-10-31T07:00:24.527-04:00Meet my new company, Zeitspace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WPrNIAIDm4U/WBaTZ6nMnoI/AAAAAAAAAp4/qqjtA6eH8Nki95FQueNTCWXnY7oyi_3AgCLcB/s1600/Zeitspace_CDBlog_compact.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WPrNIAIDm4U/WBaTZ6nMnoI/AAAAAAAAAp4/qqjtA6eH8Nki95FQueNTCWXnY7oyi_3AgCLcB/s200/Zeitspace_CDBlog_compact.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="graf graf--p" name="85ef"><div class="graf graf--p" name="7eb5">Starting a new company can be a scary proposition, as it’s never certain that things will work as planned. So given that today is Hallowe’en, the scariest day of the year, what better time to formally announce <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://zeitspace.com" href="http://zeitspace.com/" target="_blank">Zeitspace</a>, a new software product design and development consultancy.</div><div class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="85ef"><br /></div>Why start a consultancy? Well, in this case there’s a pretty specific reason: <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://boltmade.com" href="http://boltmade.com/" target="_blank">Boltmade</a>, where I worked, was acquired by Shopify earlier this month. I loved the work that we did at Boltmade — it was great to engage with a diverse range of clients on a variety of projects. The design and technical challenges were invigorating, the people were passionate about the projects that they brought us, and there was plenty of learning along the way. It felt to me that, as much as we had achieved and as far as we had come with Boltmade, there remained so much more to do.</div><div class="graf graf--p" name="85ef"><br /></div><div class="graf graf--p" name="c5ab">As well, Boltmade’s departure leaves a noticeable gap in Waterloo Region’s tech ecosystem. There’s a real need for a company that can reliably deliver design and development services to a range clients. Zeitspace is an opportunity to pick up where Boltmade left off and continue the journey. We’re excited and looking forward to helping our clients create great products.&nbsp;</div><div class="graf graf--p graf--empty" name="79e4"><br /></div><div class="graf graf--p" name="79e4">There’ll be more details to share in the coming days and weeks and months — about the team, how we work, what we’re looking to accomplish, and much more. In the meantime, drop by and <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.zeitspace.com" href="http://www.zeitspace.com/" target="_blank">say hello</a>!</div><div class="graf graf--p" name="79e4"><br /></div><div class="graf graf--p" name="79e4"><i>This post also appears on the <a href="https://blog.zeitspace.com/">Zeitspace blog</a>&nbsp;under&nbsp;the title </i>Greetings from Zeitspace<i>. Go check it out and follow the company’s adventures!</i></div>Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-84403539529787314652016-10-24T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-24T14:27:10.996-04:00Facilitating and presenting at events this weekI’ve got a pair of events coming up that promise to be fun.<br /><br />First up, I’ll be heading to Edmonton this week to facilitate a user story making workshop at the annual gathering of the <a href="https://cdmn.ca/">Canadian Digital Media Network</a>. It’s a workshop that I’ve delivered multiple times in the past, and in this instance I’m delighted to be joined by Bob Barlow-Busch. It should be a great experience, and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing a little of Edmonton.<br /><br />Then on Friday Bob and I will deliver a presentation at&nbsp;<a href="https://events.withgoogle.com/gonorth/">Go North 2016</a> in Toronto. It’s an updated version of a <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/2016/05/25-short-stories-about-user-experience.html">presentation that we delivered in May</a> at <a href="https://www.communitech.ca/">Comunitech</a>. There are some impressive names in the list of keynote &amp; fireside speakers and panelists, so it’s pretty cool to be delivering our “tech talk” at the event.<br /><br /><i><b>Update:</b>&nbsp;Instead of presenting at Go North, it looks like I’ll be doing some startup mentoring instead. After running five successful editions of <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a>, I certainly know at this point how challenging it can be to finalize the details of a conference program!</i>Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-22436989897593792612016-10-03T17:11:00.001-04:002016-10-03T17:11:25.254-04:00Farewell to Boltmade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-awIHaTBG7mk/U-zN6MSPhtI/AAAAAAAAASw/powdHb7hYp8WWfTiCJ3m3d7sn-lcySBmwCPcB/s1600/BoltmadeLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="60" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-awIHaTBG7mk/U-zN6MSPhtI/AAAAAAAAASw/powdHb7hYp8WWfTiCJ3m3d7sn-lcySBmwCPcB/s200/BoltmadeLogo.png" width="200" /></a></div>Boltmade was an amazing group of people that designed and built amazing software products for amazing companies. That’s a lot of “amazing” — but it’s all true! As of today, though,&nbsp;<a href="https://boltmade.com/">Boltmade is no more</a>, as the company has been <a href="https://press.shopify.com/releases/shopify-acquires-boltmade-to-accelerate-shopify-plus-roadmap">bought by Shopify</a>, the Ottawa-based success story that just keeps on growing and that has an office right here in Waterloo. It’s an exciting time for everyone involved.<br /><br />I won’t be making the trip down the road to Shopify, and neither will my long-time collaborator and conspirator Bob Barlow-Busch. But I’m busily cooking up my next thing, and am excited to see where it goes.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-56734510562004524662016-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:002016-09-15T08:03:49.742-04:00Fluxible Workshops may be full, but there are other optionsEarlier this week I <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/2016/09/fluxible-meetups-start-next-week.html">wrote about</a> the broad range of <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-meetups/">Fluxible Meetups</a> that start next Monday. It’s an exciting lineup!<br /><br />I’m particularly happy to have added these events for 2016, since both of our <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-workshops/">Fluxible Workshops</a> on Friday September 23 sold out weeks ago. &nbsp;No real surprise there, as Pam Havlicek and Kai Haley are terrific people who will be delivering enlightening and engaging workshop experiences. Pam’s is on <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/design-for-happiness/">How to Design for Happiness</a>, while Kai’s is on <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/design-sprints/">Design Sprints</a>., and both will be filled with practical nuggets.<br /><br />I’m sorry that I won’t be attending them!<br /><br />For those of you who didn’t get a spot, do check the Fluxible Meetups schedule for other events of interest. And, of course, both Pam and Kai will also be speaking at <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-conference/">Fluxible Conference</a> on the weekend, along with a great lineup of other speakers. So that’s another option for indulging in your passion for UX!Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-3227562807618267032016-09-12T10:38:00.000-04:002016-09-12T10:38:14.899-04:00Fluxible meetups start next weekThe last few months have been busy ones of me. There have been a few side projects keeping me busy but that aren’t quite ready for the public eye.<br /><br />And there is also, of course, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> coming back for the fifth year. For 2016 we expanded our thinking to create a deeper and richer experience, and evolved into Canada’s UX Festival.<br /><br />All the planning and work will pay off starting one week from today, with the first of our <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-meetups/">Fluxible Meetups</a>. There’s a full week of these events happening, and it’s an exciting range of topics and formats. Best of all, most of these events are free! You should really check out the <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-meetups/">entire schedule</a>, but here are some highlights.<br /><br />On each day Monday through Friday we have a Brown Bag Lunch event at the Communitech Hub. These events cover <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-brown-bag-lunch-1/">hiring for UX</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-brown-bag-lunch-2/">product management and UX</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-brown-bag-lunch-4/">longitudinal user research</a>, and a <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-brown-bag-lunch-5/">systems design approach to UX</a>. My personal favourite, though, might be my friend David Jensenius talking about&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-brown-bag-lunch-3/">art and technology and UX in the arts</a>.&nbsp;I love that diversity! For anyone who works nearby, it’s pretty easy to grab your lunch and walk on over for one of these sessions.<br /><br />This year we have some fine site visits to Waterloo Region companies that are doing some great product work: <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/behind-the-scenes-design-at-d2l/">D2L</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/behind-the-scenes-design-at-td-lab/">TD</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/behind-the-scenes-design-at-shopify-plus/">Shopify Plus</a>, and <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/site-visit-product-design-music/">MUSIC</a> will all be opening up there spaces to share the ways that they work and look and some cool products that their teams have created. And all of them are definitely excited about hosting and event and sharing their work with the community.<br /><br />We’ve partnered up with several organizations in Waterloo Region this year. <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/hacking-health/">Hacking Health Waterloo</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/girl-geek-dinners-chat-bots/">Girl Geek Dinners Waterloo Region</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/designchats-breakfast-calvin-chu/">Design Chats</a>, <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/2016-ux-book-club/">UX Book Club KW</a>, and <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/breakfast-peter-merholz-ux-product-success/">Communitech</a> all have their own UX-themed events happening. I’m thrilled that these organizations are on board this year, and love what they’re doing to build community!<br /><br />Finally, we’ve decided to present a concert this year. Why? Well, music has been an integral part of Fluxible from the very first edition. We’ve featured a stylistically diverse range of performances as a part of each year’s conference. It felt natural to try a concert, just for fun. To that end, we’re presenting <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/session/concert-stealth/">Stealth in a concert at the Communitech Hub</a> on Thursday.<br /><br />And all these events are just one stream of Fluxible 2016!Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-85148869765816394942016-06-30T07:00:00.000-04:002016-06-30T07:00:23.795-04:00Check out Fluxible, Canada’s UX FestivalSomewhat belatedly, it seems appropriate to mention here that the Fluxible 2016 program has been announced, and that earlybird tickets are now available. The program for this year has been expanded into a weeklong celebration that we’re positioning as Canada’s UX festival.&nbsp;And what a week we have lined up!<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-meetups/">Fluxible Meetups</a></b> starts the festival on Monday September 19, and features multiple events each day through Friday September 23. We’ll be revealing more events in the coming weeks and months, but we already have a stellar schedule to share. There’s a daily brown bag lunch series happening at the newly expanded Communitech Hub. We’ve lined up on-site events at some of the region’s technology companies: D2L, Clearpath Robotics, TD 55 Technology Centre, and Shopify Plus. And we’re launching a set of dinner events on Friday that will give out-of-towners and locals alike a chance to enjoy conversations about UX with old and new friends over good food and drink.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-workshops/">Fluxible Workshops</a></b> continues the festival at the Communitech Hub on Friday September 23 with a pair of half-day pre-conference workshops that provide deep dives into timely topics. Pamela Pavliscak will lead a morning workshop on <i>How to Design for Happiness</i>, while Kai Haley leads an afternoon workshop on <i>Design Sprints</i>. Pamela and Kai are both on the Fluxible Conference program as well, and Pamela will be a special guest at <a href="http://www.meetup.com/UX-Book-Club-KW/">UX Book Club KW</a> — they clearly have plenty of knowledge and expertise to share with the Fluxible community.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2016/program-conference/">Fluxible Conference</a></b> is the main course of our festival meal this year. As many of you will know from our previous announcements, the conference features an amazing group of speakers in a single track program that means you won’t miss a thing. They’ll be enlightening us on a range of UX topics, along with our now-expected presentations on unexpectedly relevant topics from other disciplines. Fluxible Conference opens on Saturday September 24 and runs for two days at the CIGI Auditorium, a new venue for this year. Check it out, and start making your plans to attend.<br /><br />Register for <a href="http://Register now for Fluxible Conference">Fluxible Conference</a> and <a href="http://fluxibleworkshops.eventbrite.com/">Fluxible Workshops</a> right now! And join <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Fluxible/">Fluxible Meetups</a>!<br /><br /><i>This post originally appeared on the Fluxible blog in a slightly different form.</i><br /><br />Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-40542051271407512562016-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:002016-05-02T07:00:01.345-04:0025 short stories about user experience<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-573CrHA8T2M/VySs2IbLcYI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tPDB9Yx3h5olsX0nN_ZWdjWp55ywMGbuwCLcB/s1600/Stories%2BAt%2BCommunitech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-573CrHA8T2M/VySs2IbLcYI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tPDB9Yx3h5olsX0nN_ZWdjWp55ywMGbuwCLcB/s320/Stories%2BAt%2BCommunitech.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Davis Neable</td></tr></tbody></table>Last Wednesday, Bob Barlow-Busch and I delivered a presentation as a part of the <a href="https://www.communitech.ca/get-involved/events/">Communitech Breakfast Series</a>. It was titled <a href="http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/communitech-breakfast-insights-that-lead-to-great-ux-with-robert-barlow-busch-and-mark-connolly-tickets-22272780486">Insights that lead to great UX</a>, and the focus was on ways in which to use stories to fuel insights.<br /><br />We structured the presentation in a way that put the focus on stories, with the bulk of the presentation being organized into 25 Short Stories About User Experience. Perhaps unexpectedly, the structure was inspired by a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108328/">similarly-titled movie about Glenn Gould</a>, as well as John Cage’s <a href="http://www.folkways.si.edu/john-cage-and-david-tudor/indeterminacy-new-aspect-of-form-in-instrumental-and-electronic-music/classical-contemporary/album/smithsonian">story-telling on&nbsp;<i>Indeterminacy</i></a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies">Oblique Strategies</a>, an influential card deck by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. And, of course, there was the obvious appeal of telling stories about stories — everything goes meta.<br /><br />The beauty of the structure for us is that it’s quite flexible — stories can be swapped in and out as needed to emphasize different things for different presentation contexts. In fact, there were stories that didn’t make it into last week’s presentation.<br /><br />It was the first time delivering this presentation, and we were pleased that people who attended appear to have found it a valuable one.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-37187064022604999202016-04-15T07:00:00.000-04:002016-04-15T07:00:14.247-04:00State of the City of Kitchener<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1M-jEZrB910/VxAcBamuYiI/AAAAAAAAAkg/qay9MzfnjXA-6R1npSJV-J9tpMB5tTPkACLcB/s1600/StateOfTheCity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1M-jEZrB910/VxAcBamuYiI/AAAAAAAAAkg/qay9MzfnjXA-6R1npSJV-J9tpMB5tTPkACLcB/s320/StateOfTheCity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I had the honour of attending the City of Kitchener’s annual State of the City event on Wednesday, representing <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> along with friend, colleague, and long-time collaborator <a href="https://twitter.com/becubed">Bob Barlow-Busch</a>.<br /><br />The event was held in the magnificent industrial space at 41 Ardelt Place, and featured <a href="https://twitter.com/berryonline">Mayor Berry Vrbanovic</a> delivering a State of the City address to a large crowd.<br /><br /><a href="http://app.kitchener.ca/makeitkitchener/">Make It Kitchener</a> was the theme, and it was fun to hear the details. There are six opportunities identified in the strategy:<br /><br /><ul><li>Make it Spark</li><li>Make it Start</li><li>Make it Grow</li><li>Make it Urban</li><li>Make it Vibrant</li><li>Make it Connect</li></ul><br />It’s exciting to see “Support professional development in user experience” identified as one of the ways to get “Make It Spark” to happen. I’m delighted to help drive that through Fluxible!<br /><div><br /></div>Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-13484903526414820442016-02-09T07:00:00.000-05:002016-02-09T07:00:03.696-05:00Hiring season at BoltmadeIt’s co-op hiring season, and at <a href="http://www.boltmade.com/">Boltmade</a> we’re been deeply engaged in finding students at <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/">University of Waterloo</a> who can join us for a four-month work term this coming summer. We’ve been a long-time employer of development co-ops, and have more recently been hiring for our UX team. That’s the side of things that has kept me and my colleagues busy.<br /><br />It’s fascinating to see the wide range of academic disciplines that we’ve seen in the applications for our UX position. There are, as expected, many great applications from within <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/systems-design-engineering/">Systems Design Engineering</a>, but also from <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/software-engineering/">Software Engineering</a> and <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/mechanical-mechatronics-engineering/">Mechatronics</a>. There are <a href="https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/">Computer Science</a> applications, of course, which isn’t really a surprise, but we’re delighted to see applications representing many departments and programs in the Arts faculty — <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/drama-speech-communication/current-undergraduates/digital-arts-communication">DAC</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/english/">English</a>, <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/anthropology/">Anthropology</a>, <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/psychology/">Psychology</a>, <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/fine-arts/">Fine Arts</a>, and more.<br /><br />Because of the diversity of sources, it can be a real challenge to evaluate and compare candidates, but as we like to say, that’s a great problem to have. We’re excited about seeing who joins us in May.<br /><br />Of course, we’re also looking for full-time software developers to join us at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.boltmade.com/">Boltmade</a>. Check us out and let us know if you’re interested!Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-24618064680435287442016-01-28T07:00:00.000-05:002016-01-28T07:00:13.137-05:00O'Reilly Design Conference <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp1bmMlHhPE/VqnzFrth3AI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/roPWcgVWi1U/s1600/O%2527Reilly%2BDesign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xp1bmMlHhPE/VqnzFrth3AI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/roPWcgVWi1U/s320/O%2527Reilly%2BDesign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Last week I attended the inaugural <a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/design/ux-interaction-iot-us">O’Reilly Design conference</a>, along with my Fluxible co-chair Bob Barlow-Busch. As with last fall’s trip to the <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/2015/11/a-visit-to-canux-conference.html">CanUX conference</a>, I’m always watching to see what works at a particular conference and thinking about how we might apply it to Fluxible. There was a level of logistical sophistication here that reveals O’Reilly’s years of experience running similar conferences and events.<br /><br />The program touched on user experience, industrial design, and graphic design, with standard mix of keynotes and breakout sessions. Highlights for me included a briskly paced vision of design from <a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/design/ux-interaction-iot-us/public/schedule/speaker/2873">Erika Hall</a>, a primer on effective critique from <a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/design/ux-interaction-iot-us/public/schedule/speaker/119406">Adam Connor</a>, and a call from&nbsp;<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/design/ux-interaction-iot-us/public/schedule/speaker/215861">Bob Baxley</a>&nbsp;to bring more people into the design profession.<br /><br />The venue was <a href="http://fortmason.org/">Fort Mason Centre</a>, with the main program happening in a cool warehouse space on a pier over the bay, and breakout sessions also happening in what appeared to be old army buildings. It worked well for me, even with a long and steep staircase to climb between buildings!<br /><br />Beyond the program, of course, there were many fine conversations with friends old and new.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-6490858406739623602015-12-22T07:00:00.000-05:002015-12-22T08:38:41.572-05:00Cooking up a career bigos<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3IIEmitopk/VnfycKJgrzI/AAAAAAAAAik/s3r40MLe0tY/s1600/Bigos.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3IIEmitopk/VnfycKJgrzI/AAAAAAAAAik/s3r40MLe0tY/s200/Bigos.png" width="198" /></a>I had a recent conversation with a friend about working in UX. As we all do, he’s aiming to find a balance of work that is rewarding, provides room for growth, and pays the bills. He has a range of important creative activities that he’s engaged in and he wants to ensure that none of them are being neglected.<br /><br />Our conversation resonated with my own thinking about my career. Metaphorically, I have a soup of ingredients that are all important to my UX work and that I aim to have aligned with each other.&nbsp;<a href="http://boltmade.com/">Boltmade</a> is the major ingredient, while <a href="http://fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> and <a href="http://uxwaterloo.org/">uxWaterloo</a> are two other obvious ingredients in that soup. Other ingredients like attending other events, having conversations with various folks in the community, and ongoing readings all go into the mix as well. I’m delighted that these all complement each other as well as they do.<br /><br />As I talked about this with my friend, he got it right away and declared it to be more of a stew. What immediately popped into my mind was a wonderful kind of stew called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigos">bigos</a>.<br /><br />My mom taught me how to make bigos, and it’s a dish that my whole family loves. One of the great things about it is how it improves on subsequent days as it cooks. Moreover, adding new ingredients on those day renews it and extends it over more meals.<br /><br />My UX career bigos evolves, and the ingredients that I add over time ensure that it keeps getting better.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-84131352715215213752015-11-30T07:00:00.000-05:002015-11-30T07:24:54.350-05:00Designing FluxibleIn the aftermath of <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/">Fluxible 2015</a> in September, the <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/team-fluxible-2015/">Fluxible team</a> has been reflecting on how things went and thinking about next year’s edition. It’s an ongoing activity, really, as we look for ways to refine what we do to create a great conference experience.<br /><br />With many of us being user experience professionals, it’s inevitable that we bring our UX tools to bear on the task of improving Fluxible. Recently, we’ve engaged in several <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/2015/04/user-story-mapping-at-felt-lab.html">story mapping</a> sessions to help us better articulate the experience of our attendees. It’s productive, as well as good fun, to think about the Fluxible experience this way.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DDifV_7nwAs/Vlw82hDH2nI/AAAAAAAAAh0/Jrg1demjNcM/s1600/Fluxible%2BStory%2BMapping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DDifV_7nwAs/Vlw82hDH2nI/AAAAAAAAAh0/Jrg1demjNcM/s320/Fluxible%2BStory%2BMapping.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">User story mapping progress…</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Bob Barlow-Busch observed that the thinking and activities that go into designing a conference might be of wider interest, and suggested that we share some of what we go through. That does seem like a great idea and is something that we’re planning to do in the months leading up to Fluxible next year.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-36647761434756236542015-11-25T07:00:00.000-05:002015-11-25T07:00:00.683-05:00Model trains in St. Jacobs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pVewN3Hx9gw/VkiNdf32p9I/AAAAAAAAAhU/lSPkYCaye1w/s1600/Day%2BScene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A daylight scene at the St. Jacobs &amp; Aberfoyle Model Railway " border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pVewN3Hx9gw/VkiNdf32p9I/AAAAAAAAAhU/lSPkYCaye1w/s200/Day%2BScene.jpg" title="A daylight scene at the St. Jacobs &amp; Aberfoyle Model Railway " width="200" /></a></div>I took my sons to St. Jacobs a few weeks back to visit the <a href="http://stjacobsmodelrailway.com/">St. Jacobs &amp; Aberfoyle Model Railway</a>. It’s something that we’d been meaning to do for some time, and after experiencing it we were all delighted that we had finally made the trip. We stayed for well over an hour taking it all in, and surely missed much more than we saw.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l0LxpF7OH6s/VkiNmJXFnXI/AAAAAAAAAhc/hGDEunD9DYU/s1600/Night%2BScene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A night scene at the St. Jacobs &amp; Aberfoyle Model Railway " border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l0LxpF7OH6s/VkiNmJXFnXI/AAAAAAAAAhc/hGDEunD9DYU/s200/Night%2BScene.jpg" title="A night scene at the St. Jacobs &amp; Aberfoyle Model Railway " width="200" /></a></div>What you see, hear, and otherwise experience is a vast and meticulously detailed “O” scale model train layout that features realistic train operations. The layout covers rural, city, and industrial landscapes and more, with dozens of tiny vignettes that tell stories about life in southern Ontario in the 1950s. Stay long enough, and you’ll see the overhead lights dim as the night-time layout come to life in a beautifully choreographed way.<br /><br />They’re open through the end of December, and it’s well worth a visit.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-2385293423538418142015-11-17T07:00:00.000-05:002015-11-17T07:00:02.303-05:00A visit to the CanUX conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lG_nlAAQwDo/VkiHjGsvblI/AAAAAAAAAhE/Eka_aQyyB-0/s1600/Brent%2BMarshall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Bret Marshall presenting at CanUX" border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lG_nlAAQwDo/VkiHjGsvblI/AAAAAAAAAhE/Eka_aQyyB-0/s320/Brent%2BMarshall.jpg" title="Bret Marshall presenting at CanUX" width="320" /></a></div>Along with Bob Barlow-Busch, I recently attended the <a href="http://canuxconf.org/">CanUX conference</a> in Gatineau, Quebec, across the river from Ottawa. This was my third time attending the event formerly known as <a href="http://canuxconf.org/about/about-canux/">UX Camp Ottawa</a>. As always, <a href="http://canuxconf.org/about/hosers/">Cornelius Rachieru, Tanya Snook, Barb Spanton, and their team</a> put on a fine event, with an interesting lineup of speakers presenting in a great venue (<a href="http://www.historymuseum.ca/home">Canadian Museum of History</a>, formerly the Museum of Civilization). It was a special treat to see our friend&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/eightlines">Brent Marshall</a> delivering his <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/creating-a-playful-experience/">Fluxible presentation</a> to a fresh crowd.<br /><br />Running <a href="http://fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> has made attending other events a bit odd for me, as my attention is always on evaluating experiences that might work well at our own conference. One thing that Fluxible 2016 attendees are almost certain to see is pre-event Friday dinners that will make it easy for UX people in town for the&nbsp;conference to meet each other in informal groups. CanUX set up several of these this year. Bob and I enjoyed lovely evening in Ottawa talking shop with a small group of CanUX attendees and want to bring that experience to Fluxible.<br /><br />It’s great to see the UX community in Canada thriving in multiple locations, and see such thoughtful events being staged. Hats off to the CanUX team for delivering another successful event.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-48785517719797870942015-10-26T08:30:00.000-04:002015-10-28T07:03:25.009-04:00Looking back at Fluxible 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s1600/Fluxible-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="62" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s200/Fluxible-Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>Well, <a href="http://fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> 2015 wrapped up one month ago today, and I’ve realized that I hadn’t done any kind of a wrap-up post here. It’s surprisingly challenging to do so, as the message every year is generally the same. That is, it was another terrific event with <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/">smart speakers</a> and plenty of engaging conversations to be had all around, along with plenty of fun <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/festival-of-interstitial-music-2015/">musical interludes</a>.<br /><br />Happily, I’ve got a couple of special artifacts to point at that document the conference so that I don’t have to!<br /><br />First up is a <a href="http://news.communitech.ca/news/art-and-tech-intersect-at-fluxible-2015/">great video</a> created by one of our friends at <a href="https://www.communitech.ca/">Communitech</a>. Phil Froklage captured many defining moments, large and small, at this year’s event. Check it out to get a small flavour of what happened.<br /><br />More recently, our friends Amandah Wood and&nbsp;Matt Quinn&nbsp;documented their <a href="http://wayswework.io/features/fluxible-designing-an-experience">Fluxible 2015 experience</a> over at <a href="http://wayswework.io/">Ways We Work</a>. Moreover, as they were explicitly interested in how an event like this goes together, Bob Barlow-Busch and I chatted with them extensively, and they had plenty of behind-the-scenes access to see how it all happened. The result is a lovely essay in words and pictures. Have a look right now!<br /><br />Meanwhile plans are already well underway for the 2016 edition of Fluxible.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-66915209304797553842015-09-23T07:00:00.000-04:002015-09-23T07:00:00.826-04:00Recommended UX books, part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7qaW0k_Grs/Vf3JVRushsI/AAAAAAAAAgI/EZQLUtTIDvc/s1600/Books%2BList%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A photo of all five books mentioned in the text" border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7qaW0k_Grs/Vf3JVRushsI/AAAAAAAAAgI/EZQLUtTIDvc/s200/Books%2BList%2B3.jpg" title="The books" width="200" /></a></div>Following up on my earlier posts, here’s another set of books in <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/search/label/UX%20Reading%20List">an informal series</a> on recommended UX reading.<br /><br />As a reminder, the series isn’t meant to provide a definitive list, but rather a set of books that I’ve enjoyed and found helpful in my UX work. Some of them will be well known and already widely recommended. Others may be less so, though no less valuable to me. A few might even be eccentric choices for a list like this.<br /><br /><i>Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art</i><br />by Scott McCloud<br />I’ve been recommending this classic to designers for 20 years now! It’s a wonderful look at visual communication, exquisitely told using the form that it documents.<br /><br /><i>See What I Mean: How to Use Comics to Communicate Ideas</i><br />By Kevin Cheng<br />In the context of this list, here is a perfect companion to <i>Understanding Comics</i>, as Cheng makes explicit the UX contexts in which to effectively use comics.<br /><br /><i>Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us</i><br />by Daniel H. Pink<br />While not explicitly a UX-related book, Pink’s book is nevertheless a relevant, and fascinating, read.<br /><br /><i>Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights</i><br />by Steve Portigal<br />Thoughtful, humane, practical, and more, Steve has created a great guide for a foundational aspect of UX research.<br /><br /><i>Tog on Interface</i><br />by Bruce Tognazzini<br />It’s almost a quarter-century old, but while a few of the examples are a little dated Tog’s writing remains vibrant and engaging, and the concepts are as relevant and important as ever.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-9851458328482089012015-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:002015-09-21T07:00:02.251-04:00It’s Fluxible Week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s1600/Fluxible-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="62" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s200/Fluxible-Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>Well, all the preparations, machinations, and invocations have come together and <a href="http://fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a>&nbsp;is upon us!<br /><br />This year we’ve pulled together a whole week of events for Fluxible, and there are UX-related events happening on each of the next seven days, all of them featuring interesting and engaging material presented and shared by folks who are committed to building UX community in Waterloo Region and around the world. I’m looking forward to learning something from all of them.<br /><br />Things get started today at <a href="http://boltmade.com/">Boltmade</a>, where my colleagues Brian Potstra and Katie Cerar will be presenting a <a href="http://www.meetup.com/boltmade-sessions/events/224907384/">workshop on learning Sketch</a>, a favourite design tool amongst the UX team there. This workshop filled up quickly, as the <a href="http://www.boltmade.com/events">Boltmade Sessions</a> events tend to do.<br /><br />Tuesday sees the <a href="http://www.uxwaterloo.org/2015/08/20/september-2015-a-design-case-study-from-christie/">September edition of uxWaterloo</a> taking place at <a href="http://christiedigital.com/">Christie</a>, where Alan Woo and Chris Kirby from their design team will be taking us on a deep dive into designing a remote control for one of their projectors. Registration for this session filled up by the end of August. Amazing…<br /><br />Wednesday features <a href="http://www.meetup.com/UX-Book-Club-KW/events/224573461/">UX Book Club Waterloo Region</a>, and a visit from Abby Covert, who happens to be in town for Fluxible. Abby is smart and articulate — not to mention funny — and this session should make for an engaging conversation. Katie Cerar and Davis Neable have been presenting these UX Book Club events for quite a while now, and they know how to deliver a fine experience.<br /><br />Thursday finds Christina Wodtke joining&nbsp;<a href="http://www.girlgeekskw.com/2015/09/on-behalf-of-fluxible-christina-wodtke-the-architecture-of-advocacy/">Girl Geek Dinners Waterloo Region</a> to talk about “The Architecture of Advocacy”. Christina will be busy while she’s in town, as she’s also presenting a Fluxible workshop on Friday morning (see below) as well as a presentation during the Fluxible main program on Saturday (also see below!).<br /><br />Friday is filled with pre-conference Fluxible workshops by Christina Wodtke (<a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/design-thinking-for-innovation/">Design Thinking for Innovation</a>), Stephen Anderson (<a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/workshop-stephen-anderson-design-understanding/">Design for Understanding</a>), and Jeff Gothelf &amp; Jim Kalbach (<a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/jazz-performance-team-collaboration/">Jazz Performance as a Model for Team Collaboration</a>). There’s a lot of learning to be done!<br /><br />Saturday and Sunday sees all the UX activity comes to a head with the <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/">main program</a> for Fluxible. This year’s edition of the UX party disguised as a conference sold out faster than ever, and the speakers will deliver a rich collection of presentations.<br /><br />Next week I’ll be sleeping it off…Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-15677406698232096652015-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:002015-09-02T09:16:49.609-04:00September kicks off a new season for uxWaterlooAfter <a href="http://www.uxwaterloo.org/2015/07/01/july-2015-informal-pub-meetup/">July</a> and <a href="http://www.uxwaterloo.org/2015/07/27/august-2015-informal-pub-meetup/">August</a> sessions that featured relaxed conversations over drinks on summer patios, we’re kicking off a fresh new season of <a href="http://www.uxwaterloo.org/">uxWaterloo</a> events on Tuesday September 22 with a visit to <a href="http://www.christiedigital.com/">Christie</a> in Kitchener.<br /><br />Their design team will be taking us deep into the process of creating a new remote control for their projectors. It’s always a great learning experience to see and hear how a design to team has approached and solved a problem, and the folks at Christie promise to share plenty of insights. It will be a terrific session. I’d usually encourage folks to register at this point, but the event is already full! Be sure to <a href="https://twitter.com/uxWat">watch for announcements</a> for more great uxWaterloo sessions for the fall.<br /><br />There’s something special about the September session, though. It’s part of a full week of UX events in Waterloo Region that our&nbsp;<a href="http://fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a> team has&nbsp;pulled together around this year’s edition of the&nbsp;UX conference disguised as a party.<br /><br />In addition to the Tuesday uxWaterloo event, there’s a <a href="http://www.boltmade.com/events">Boltmade Session</a> on <a href="http://www.meetup.com/boltmade-sessions/events/224907384/">learning Sketch</a> (Monday September 21); a <a href="http://www.meetup.com/UX-Book-Club-KW/events/224573461/">UX Book &nbsp;Club meetup</a> with Fluxible speaker Abby Covert (Wednesday September 23); and a <a href="http://www.girlgeekskw.com/2015/09/on-behalf-of-fluxible-christina-wodtke-the-architecture-of-advocacy/">Girl Geek Dinners Waterloo Region event</a> with Fluxible speaker Christina Wodtke (Thursday September 24).<br /><br />Of course, there’s a day filled with Fluxible pre-conference workshops on Friday September 25, and the week culminates in the <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/">main Fluxible program</a> on Saturday September 26 and Sunday September 27!<br /><br />Great stuff, right?Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-13794197268347138182015-08-24T07:00:00.000-04:002015-08-24T07:00:08.747-04:00Fluxible 2015 sold out!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s1600/Fluxible-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="62" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_BoZ3S0JUb4/T5_cRZ_3PPI/AAAAAAAAAFw/ulU0gK3SbTk/s200/Fluxible-Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>Well, that happened fast. Faster, in fact, than in each the last three years!<br /><br />This past Friday we sold out the main program for Fluxible 2015. Obviously Bob Barlow-Busch and I, along with the rest of the <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/team-fluxible-2015/">Fluxible team</a>, think that we’re presenting a great program at this year’s event, but we’re delighted that others agree and have registered to attend.<br /><br />If you missed out, we have good news. <a href="http://fluxible.eventbrite.com/">Registration</a> has not yet closed for two of our three Friday workshops. (Our <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/design-thinking-for-innovation/">Friday morning workshop with Christina Wodtke</a> sold out earlier.)<br /><br />Join <a href="http://twitter.com/stephenanderson">Stephen Anderson</a> on Friday morning for a terrific deep dive into <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/workshop-stephen-anderson-design-understanding/">Design for Understanding</a>.<br /><br />And on Friday afternoon you can join <a href="https://twitter.com/jboogie">Jeff Gothelf</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/JimKalbach">Jim Kalbach</a> for <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/flux2015/program/jazz-performance-team-collaboration/">Jazz Performance as a Model for Team Collaboration</a>.<br /><br />Sound interesting? <a href="http://fluxible.eventbrite.com/"><b>Register now</b></a> before it’s too late!Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-50653735256976957032015-08-17T08:00:00.000-04:002015-08-17T08:00:00.841-04:00The calm before the storm…While I’ve been quiet here on the blogging front, there’s plenty going on behind the scenes in anticipation of what promises to be a busy autumn.<br /><br />Preparations are in the final stages for <a href="http://www.fluxible.ca/">Fluxible</a>. It’s going to be another terrific event, and there’s still more that’s yet to be announced. Relatedly, <a href="http://www.uxwaterloo.org/">uxWaterloo</a> will start the new season with a terrific, soon-to-be-announced event. There’s plenty more UX goodness in the pipeline, so stay tuned! September is going to be filled with exciting news.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-36680767451524557022015-07-23T08:00:00.000-04:002015-09-19T16:48:25.818-04:00Recommended UX books, part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvNR3V7AUPE/Vf3JTbnBoaI/AAAAAAAAAgE/i1mD_rEKnI4/s1600/Books%2BList%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A photo of all five books mentioned in the text" border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XvNR3V7AUPE/Vf3JTbnBoaI/AAAAAAAAAgE/i1mD_rEKnI4/s200/Books%2BList%2B2.jpg" title="The books" width="200" /></a></div>Following up on <a href="http://0.0.7.223/06/a-post-in-which-i-recommend-few-ux-books.html">my earlier post</a>, here’s a second set of books in an informal series on recommended UX reading.<br /><br />As a reminder, the series isn’t meant to provide a definitive list, but rather a set of books that I’ve enjoyed and found helpful in my UX work. Some of them will be well known and already widely recommended. Others may be less so, though no less valuable to me. A few might even be eccentric choices for a list like this. And some of them might make for excellent beach reading this summer!<br /><div><br /></div>Enjoy!<br /><br /><i>User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product</i><br />by Jeff Patton, Peter Economy<br />A thoughtful, practical, and collaborative approach to thinking about products. We’re big on user story mapping at Boltmade.<br /><br /><i>The Elements of User Experience</i><br />by Jesse James Garret<br />One of the defining books on UX by the well-respected author, researcher, and practitioner, as well as co-founder of Adaptive Path.<br /><div><br /></div><i>Subject To Change: Creating Great Products &amp; Services for an Uncertain World</i><br />by Peter Merholz, Brandon Schauer, David Verba, Todd Wilkens<br />Another insightful book on product design from the folks at Adaptive Path (a company since acquired by Capitol One).<br /><br /><i>Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration</i><br />by Ed Catmull<br />Loads of insights on how to organize a team for creative collaboration, from the co-founder of Pixar.<br /><br /><i>Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rule-breakers, and Changemakers</i><br />by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo<br />Plenty of hands-on activities that are useful in the UX world and beyond.Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-1957028418466676202015-07-14T07:00:00.000-04:002015-09-03T15:30:25.620-04:00An Apple product with imperfections that improve over time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m86XBSumQiw/Tmtr8Kiz8LI/AAAAAAAAABQ/RZD1TD_t97o/s1600/iPad%2B2%2BSmart%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="My iPad 2 cover in 2011" border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m86XBSumQiw/Tmtr8Kiz8LI/AAAAAAAAABQ/RZD1TD_t97o/s200/iPad%2B2%2BSmart%2BCover.jpg" title="My iPad 2 cover in 2011" width="170" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My iPad 2 cover in 2011</td></tr></tbody></table>I thought it would be be fun to revisit the cover of my Apple iPad 2.<br /><br />As I’ve <a href="http://www.connollydesign.com/2011/09/some-apple-products-are-imperfect-by.html">written in the past</a><span id="goog_133874310"></span><span id="goog_133874311"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>, one of the most striking aspects of the iPad design is the optional leather cover for the second model. Specifically, it transforms in appearance over time as it’s handled and acquires an imperfectly beautiful patina that’s specific to the owner and device. In 2011, only a few months after I had bought it, my cover had already changed in appearance from what it had been in its box.<br /><br />Over time, the transformation has continued.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJD9PT1SbIM/VaKqJEbcPAI/AAAAAAAAAfE/6uZSMFtjr6I/s1600/iPad%2B2%2BSmart%2BCover%2B%25282015-3%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="My iPad 2 cover in 2015" border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uJD9PT1SbIM/VaKqJEbcPAI/AAAAAAAAAfE/6uZSMFtjr6I/s200/iPad%2B2%2BSmart%2BCover%2B%25282015-3%2529.jpg" title="My iPad 2 cover in 2015" width="170" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My iPad 2 cover in 2015</td></tr></tbody></table>Today, almost four years later, the patterns of use imprinted on the cover in 2011 have become even more pronounced and deeply ingrained. The resulting contrast between the glass and aluminum iPad and the leather cover that protects it has become even more beautiful. Even allowing for inevitable differences in photographic conditions between then and now, the change in appearance is remarkable.<br /><br /><i>Wabi Sabi!</i>Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1507288535264487668.post-4598932089424256022015-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:002015-06-30T08:00:01.594-04:00A post in which I recommend a few UX books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGVsFsHCHGQ/VZGYVYL-OMI/AAAAAAAAAeA/e-67Ln9Z1r0/s1600/Books%2BList%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGVsFsHCHGQ/VZGYVYL-OMI/AAAAAAAAAeA/e-67Ln9Z1r0/s200/Books%2BList%2B1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">I’m occasionally asked for suggestions on how people might learn more about UX. Usually it’s a pretty general question, but sometimes it’s more specifically for reading recommendations. In order to make it easy for me to <i>quickly</i> answer such questions, I’ve decided to post a few of my suggestions here. And rather than trying to get this perfect, which would prevent my ever getting it done, I’ll treat this as a series of occasional posts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>The series isn’t meant to provide a definitive list, but rather a set of books that I’ve enjoyed and found helpful in my UX work. Some of them will be well known and already widely recommended. Others may be less so, though no less valuable to me. A few might even be eccentric choices for a list like this. And some of them might make for excellent beach reading this summer!<br /><br />Let’s start with five and see how things go.<br /><br /><i>The Design of Everyday Things</i><br />by Donald Norman<br />This is the first UX book I ever read. Any of Norman’s books are well worth a look, but this one is, for me, his greatest.<br /><br /><i>The Laws of Simplicity</i><br />by John Maeda<br />Short and simple, as it should be.<br /><br /><i>Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience</i><br />by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden (Editor)<br />Filled with practical guidance that you can start to act on right away, from a pair of Fluxible speakers.<br /><br /><i>The Elements of Typographic Style</i><br />by Robert Bringhurst<br />This might very well be may favourite book on typography. Smart, detailed, and eminently approachable.<br /><br /><i>Envisioning Information</i><br />by Edward R. Tufte<br />A beautifully printed book that, naturally, communicates Tufte’s ideas in a compellingly visual way.<br /><br />Mark Connollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487441651243021006noreply@blogger.com0